Toros Agri cooperates with Ankara and Mersin Universities for two separate projects within the scope of TÜBİTAK’s 2244 Industry Ph.D. Program. A signing ceremony for the projects was held on January 24, 2019, with the participation of the Minister of Industry and Technology, Mr. Mustafa Varank, and TÜBİTAK President Prof. Hasan Mandal.
Toros Agri supports TÜBİTAK’s 2244 Industry Ph.D. Program with two different projects. These projects aim to train a qualified workforce with doctoral degrees needed in the industry, within the scope of Turkey’s 2023 goals and the framework of industry-university cooperation, encouraging the employment of researchers with doctoral degrees in the industry, and developing research infrastructure-industry cooperation.
Established in Mersin in 2017 as Turkey’s first R&D center in the field of plant nutrition, Toros Agri R&D Center has collaborated with Assoc. Dr. Suna Ertunç from the Department of Chemical Engineering at Ankara University and Prof. Hakan Aslan from the Department of Chemistry at Mersin University for two different projects within the scope of TÜBİTAK’s 2244 Industry Ph.D. Program. Projects were developed and submitted to TÜBİTAK for approval under the leadership of Toros Agri’s management team in line with the needs of the company, with contributions from R&D Center staff Dr. Merve Kaya, Dr. Ahmet Ozan Gezerman, and R&D Specialist Melike Oğuz.
The signing ceremony for the projects, which were carried out by 33 universities, 77 companies, and 517 doctoral students working on 120 projects found worthy of support within the scope of TÜBİTAK’s 2244 Industry Ph.D. Program, was held on January 24, 2019 at TÜBİTAK Feza Gürsey Meeting Hall with the participation of the Minister of Industry and Technology, Mr. Mustafa Varank, and TÜBİTAK President Prof. Hasan Mandal.
In addition to Mersin Facility Vice General Manager/Managing Director, Emin Yıldız, and Research Planning Coordination Vice General Manager/Managing Director, Nermin Aka, on behalf of Toros Agri, a wide audience from Ankara and Mersin Universities, with which we cooperate participated in the signing ceremony. Ankara University Chancellor Erkan İbiş, Vice Chancellors Ayhan Elmalı and Prof. Sibel Ayşıl Özkan, Project Coordinator and Ankara University Faculty Member Assoc. Dr. Suna Ertunç, Prof. Ali Kaya (on behalf of Mersin University Chancellor Ahmet Çamsarı), and Project Coordinator and Mersin University Faculty Member Prof. Hakan Arslan also attended the ceremony.
With the support from this project, it is planned to train R&D personnel with doctorate degrees that the Turkish industry needs. Within the scope of the two accepted projects, six doctorate students in total -three students for each project- will be supported, and university-supported scientific research and development activities will continue for 84 months in line with the needs of Toros Agri. This project will also contribute to meeting the company’s need for trained R&D personnel.
NOTE: In addition to these two projects, a new project of Toros Agri, designated in line with the needs of the company in 2019, was found worthy of support by TÜBİTAK, thanks to the contributions made by Ahmet Ozan Gezerman and R&D Specialist Cemre Avşar from the R&D Center staff; cooperation of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry at Mersin University, and the coordination of Prof. Bahadır Körbahti and consultancies by Prof. Ayla Ozer and Prof. Recep Özen. Within the scope of the accepted project, two doctoral students are supported, while university-supported scientific research and development activities will continue for 84 months in line with the needs of Toros Agri.